Garbage man saves 3-year-old Azle boy

A North Texas father is thankful for a sanitation worker who was in the right place at the right time.

The worker put himself in harm's way to stop a vehicle from rolling away with a toddler inside.

Noah is as cute and curious as any 3-year-old can be. He and his dad were just back from the store.

While Craig Hindle was unloading the groceries, Noah jumped back in the car, locked the door and accidentally took off the emergency brake.

“Then all of a sudden the car started moving and I couldn’t understand why,” Hindle recalled. “I turned around, and I expected my son to be next to me and he wasn’t there. All of a sudden, the car started slowing down. And I turn around and there was Victor, the trash guy, holding the car back and stopping him from rolling down the hill into the creek like a guardian angel.”

Guardian angels take on many forms. Victor Hurtado had just emptied the Hindles’ trash can. As the truck was about to hurry to the next stop, Hurtado saw Craig’s car rolling down the driveway.

Hurtado says he immediately noticed there was a child inside, ran in front of it and held it back with his hands. He says the boy's father unlocked the car and put the emergency brake on.

If the car had gained more momentum, Hurtado says he's not sure anyone could have stopped it.

The worker says he's humbled by the response. Hindle wrote a kind email to his employer, Community Waste Disposal. And the city of Azle proclaimed a Victor Hurtado day in the city.

Thinking what could have happened, Hindle believes it's no accident that Noah is safe and well.